Comments on: Menumeters for Windows?

Question: Menumeters for Windows?

gsb — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 10:29:25 -0800

I have to start using Windows XP for a while, but I'm a Mac user. I'm trying to find equivalent software for the Windows machine. Specifically, I'm looking for a tool like MenuMeters, that can give a real time sampling of Network Throughput, CPU usage and RAM consumption. It would be great if the application could run in the background and consume very few CPU cycles, itself. And extra bonus points if the application is free.

By: panoptican

panoptican — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 10:39:47 -0800

Winbar does all of that (and more if you want). I'm not sure what you mean by running in the background though. Winbar is always visible so it might not meet that qualification (though you can set it to autohide).

By: unixrat

unixrat — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 10:50:26 -0800

Rainmeter is does all that, is pretty, is free.

Also, Konfabulator now goes by the name "Yahoo Widgets" and is available from yahoo.com

By: skrike

skrike — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 10:51:03 -0800

Its built it.

Hit ctrl + alt + delete, choose task manager from the menu that pops up, youve got open applications, running processes, system performance, and networking usage all right there.

By: unixrat

unixrat — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 10:54:05 -0800

Whoops, I biffed that link: Yahoo! Widgets.

By: electric_counterpoint

electric_counterpoint — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 11:30:54 -0800

Rainmeter is where it's at.

By: gsb

gsb — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 12:42:33 -0800

I'll be checking out Rainmeter and a version of Winbar. I'll come back in a few days with my preference. Thanks all.

By: Who_Am_I

Who_Am_I — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:21:44 -0800

Desktop Sidebar is also quite nice.

By: Rothko

Rothko — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:30:14 -0800

Stay away from Yahoo! Widgets (formerly Konfabulator) as the software consumes a great deal of "CPU cycles".

By: sageleaf

sageleaf — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 14:45:09 -0800

I'd mark skrike as best answer if I could....

By: cathodeheart

cathodeheart — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 17:17:28 -0800

Coolmon is a good, superlightweight CPU/network.memory stat meter that sits on your desktop. it's very no-frills, and a little geeky to configure, but it's not tooooo difficult. it'll display everything; processor temperature, processor threads, network throughput, IP address, RAM usage, and much, much more. It's one of the first things I set up on every windows box I use.

By: gsb

gsb — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 23:08:15 -0800

sageleaf, skrike's answer is very good. Unfortunately, I was aware of the Task Manager when I asked this question. I'm looking for something I can just glance at without any additional mousing or keyboard action, like Menumeters.

I'll be checking out Coolmon, too. Thanks.

By: gsb

gsb — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 02:41:32 -0800

I checked out all the apps recommended, except for the Widget stuff. When I started to play with Coolmon (version 1.0 build 1003) I was hooked, it does exactly what I need in a simple yet effective manner. Thanks for all the suggestions.